Bangladesh Exports to EU countries rise

“According to the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), from January to September 2018, Bangladesh exports witnessed a 14.20 per cent increase in its export earnings to the US; i.e. from $367.10 million to $419.21 million during the same period of 2017. China on the other hand earned a $683 million from exports a hike of 1.3 per cent from 2017, while Mexico witnessed a 1.08 per cent increase in exports from 2017 to $595.40 million. Vietnam, a close competitor of Bangladesh earned 41.95 per cent more i.e. $205.43 million which was $144.72 million during 2017. While Cambodia saw a 30.85 per cent rise in export to $88.34 million.”

As per Eurostat data Bangladesh earned €917.14 million from exporting denim products to EU countries from January to August 2018, a growth of 4.23 per cent from the corresponding period last year. The country’s denim manufacturers saw a healthy rise in exports to the US and European Union (EU) markets, beating its biggest competitor China. It witnessed a steady growth in exports to the US and EU from January to August 2018.

Rise in denim exports to the US

According to the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), from January to September 2018, Bangladesh witnessed a 14.20 per cent increase in its export earnings to the US; i.e. from $367.10 million to $419.21 million during the same period of 2017. China on the other hand earned a $683 million from exports a hike of 1.3 per cent from 2017, while Mexico witnessed a 1.08 per cent increase in exports from 2017 to $595.40 million. Vietnam, a close competitor of Bangladesh earned 41.95 per cent more i.e. $205.43 million which was $144.72 million during 2017. While Cambodia saw a 30.85 per cent rise in export to $88.34 million.

Bangladesh Exports to EU countries rise by 4.23 per cent

Eurostat figures reveal, Bangladesh earned €917.14 million from exporting denim products to EU countries during January-August period of 2018, which is 4.23 per cent higher from exports earned in the corresponding period of last year. Turkey, the second largest exporter of denim goods to EU, registered a 11 per cent loss in earnings to €687.28 million from €772.93 million in 2017. Pakistan saw a 4.83 per cent rise to €500.56 million, while China’s exports registered a 14.30 per cent decline to €304.79 million from €355.68 million in the same period of 2017.

The reasons for Bangladesh’s steady growth in exports earnings are improved technology in fabrics manufacturing, improvement of safety standards in the apparel sector and the trade war between China and the US. There is no such unified, safe and secure sector in the world other than Bangladesh. Alliance for Bangladesh Workers, a platform of American buyers has certified Bangladesh as a safe place, which also boosted buyers’ confidence for sourcing products from here.

In recent times, production cost in China and other countries have gone up due to wage hike. As a result, EU manufacturers are moving to Bangladesh for sourcing denim products. On the other hand, Bangladesh has increased its production capacity in both denim fabrics manufacturing and other denim products. The Bangladeshi manufacturers have also moved to introduce latest technologies for improved quality of products.

In recent times, Bangladesh has seen the establishment of state of the art denim fabrics manufacturing plants, which has increased production capacity. This has helped to attract more work orders from the US buyers, as well as EU, as a result, the manufacturers can supply the orders within much shorter time compared to previous ones.